


Naomi

by greyathena



Category: Glee
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-12-24
Updated: 2009-12-24
Packaged: 2017-10-05 05:06:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,166
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/38111
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/greyathena/pseuds/greyathena
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sometimes everybody needs company.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Naomi

**Author's Note:**

  * For [distantemotivo](https://archiveofourown.org/users/distantemotivo/gifts).



> Not the original writer so this is a "treat," hope you enjoy!

"This is a very poignant moment for me, you know."

He looked at her with an eyebrow raised. "For _you_?"

She nodded, eyes as wide as they would go. "After all, I was in much the same situation when _I_ was born. Of course I was being given away because that was the entire reason I was conceived in the first place, and not because my mother was a seventeen-year-old cheerleader."

He rolled his eyes and at least made a show of turning his attention back to the magazine in his hand. "That really helps a lot, Rachel. Thanks."

"I've never been in a maternity ward before," she continued, blithely tapping one mary jane on the tiled floor. "I mean, except –"

"When you were being born to your genetically perfect birth mom. I got it."

She scowled at him. "You know, at least your baby will know who its father is. I have no idea! I mean – I might not even really _be_ Jewish."

He looked up from the magazine. "Was that a joke?"

"No."

He sighed. "Anyway, if your mother was Jewish, you're Jewish. Was the paragon of birth moms Jewish?"

"Yes, but –"

"Rachel, you are the least black person I've ever met. If nothing else your medley from _The Wiz_ proved that beyond the shadow of a freakin' doubt."

She sat back in her plastic chair, arms folded. "You know, not all black people fit the stereo-"

"Stuff it."

"Fine."

Several moments of sulking later, he said, "It was nice of you to sit with me. Thanks."

"Well, nobody else was going to."

"Thanks for pointing that out."

Rachel sat staring at her shoes for a while before she asked, "So did she pick a name? I was kind of scared to ask her. You know, I thought late pregnancy hormones were supposed to make you glow, but they just seem to be making her angry."

He sighed. "She isn't naming it, Rachel, she's giving it away."

"I still think she should get to name it," Rachel said quietly, after another moment of looking at her shoes.

"Did your birth mother name you?"

"Yes," she replied even more quietly. "My dads couldn't decide between Judy and Diana."

"Oy."

"Yup." She watched her shoes ripple gently as she wiggled her toes. "Noah?"

"What?"

"I'm sorry."

He sighed again and threw the magazine aside. "Like I was really ready to raise a kid anyway."

"You could have been."

"Whatever." He paused and turned to look at her. "You think so?"

"Sure." Her eyes widened again as she looked across the waiting room. "Wait, is that them?"

An anxious looking couple had entered the waiting room, the wife clinging to the husband's arm. The man was slight and slightly balding, with glasses and a nervous manner, but still looking strong and wiry. His wife was pretty but would have been prettier in a less frumpy sweater. "Yeah," Puck said.

"They look nice," Rachel stage-whispered. "Mediocre, but nice."

"Shut up." He stood up as the couple approached.

"We're friends of Quinn's," Rachel announced before Puck could stop her.

The husband narrowed his eyes at Puck. "Are you the . . . "

His wife's face scrunched in a painfully tactful way. "We thought, er, that the nice confused preppy boy was the father."

Rachel, unexpectedly, saved the situation. "The nice confused preppy boy isn't the Jewish one," she said. "You _did_ want a Jewish baby, didn't you?" Her blinding smile seemed to bewilder the couple into silence. "I understand, because my mother was also selected for her Jewish heritage."

"Y- yes," the wife said. "And you are . . ."

"A friend," Rachel said, the smile still beaming. "Would you mind if we asked a favor? It's just that Noah here is feeling just a bit conflicted –"

"_Rachel_-"

"- and I think it would really help him to know, you know, what you plan to call the baby."

"Conflicted?" the wife asked, her face alarmed.

"I'm not gonna interfere," Puck hastened to say. He glared at Rachel. "She just means – you know –"

"It's sad for him," Rachel intervened. "Not being a father after all."

The husband's expression seemed to soften. "We weren't going to decide for sure until we saw her," he said. "But –"

"Mr. Puckerman?" There was a nurse smiling in the doorway. "Your daughter is here."

Puck stood up awkwardly. "I'm – these are the parents."

"Noah!" Rachel hissed. "You don't even want to see her first? I'm sure Quinn would like a few minutes before –"

"Fine." He shrugged at the nurse. "Coming."

"We were thinking of calling her Naomi," the husband said very quickly.

Puck looked at him for a long moment, and then said, "That's nice." He was halfway to the door, following the nurse, before he turned around and said, "I'll – you know. I'll tell you if it works for her."

They both gave him tremulous smiles, and then he was gone and Rachel was left alone with the expectant parents. She smiled awkwardly, letting the full effect of her charisma strike them. "He's very talented," she said. "I'm sure his child will be extraordinary, and I'm an excellent judge."

"I'm sure you are," the wife said, seeming somewhat overwhelmed.

"Would you excuse me," Rachel said. "There's someone I need to notify."

She sidled off into a corner and pulled out her phone. _Baby's here_ she typed carefully into the text screen. _Adoptive parents here too._

The answer, a moment later, was either typically teenage-boy succinct, or an expression of how difficult he was finding the situation. _Thx._

Rachel sighed and caught the eye of the adoptive couple, who were watching her. "The nice confused preppy boy," she explained. "I think he's still upset that he isn't the father, though if it's going to be adopted anyway I don't see what all the fuss is about."

The wife nodded, still looking rather overwhelmed and bewildered. Just then, Puck reentered the room.

"She's pretty, I guess," he said to Rachel, not looking at the other couple. "I mean, actually she's kind of scary-looking but everybody else says she's pretty. Her head is really freaky."

"That sounds . . . nice," Rachel said.

"Yeah." He finally acknowledged the husband and wife who were watching him closely. "Naomi is nice, I guess."

The wife's face melted. "She looks like a Naomi?"

"She mostly looks like my Uncle Eli, so – sure." He looked back at Rachel. "Can we go? Quinn told me to get out and not come back."

"Sure." Rachel got to her feet and sent an apologetic look at the couple. "You want to get some ice cream or something?"

"No," he said as if she were nuts.

"Okay." She waved at the couple. "Congratulations."

They waved back through strained smiles.

"Well," Rachel said as they passed through the incredibly slow revolving doors back out into the world, "you're a dad."

"I'm not a freakin' dad."

"Yes, you are." She gave him a reassuring pat on the arm. "Good job."

He rolled his eyes but said, "Thanks."


End file.
